Mutual-Regard Equilibrium

Canonical definition

Because downward attribution is the dominant extraction channel (Extraction-Direction Asymmetry), and because PM is the differential between mutual deferences rather than an absolute transferred quantity, the population-scale net-benefit equilibrium is the symmetrisation of regard: the condition in which each Individual's regard for others and others' regard for them are mutually matched, so that the regard differential (and hence PM) nets to zero. This is reachable by two complementary routes: downward by the universal withholding of downward attribution (lowering the high ends of the gradient), and upward by universal mutual deference (raising the low ends). Both flatten the gradient, which is what PM tracks; neither requires the level of regard to be low. Universal deference is therefore not incoherent: when deference is mutual its differential vanishes, yielding PM = 0 at a uniformly high level of regard rather than at silence. The equilibrium condition is the symmetry of regard, not its absence; differentiated regard sustains a live differential (PM > 0), whereas symmetric regard at any level nets to zero. The floor remains a floor and not a reachable terminal state (Mimetic Premium Floor Corollary): the M-channel cannot be removed, so the differential is driven toward zero asymptotically, never permanently stilled.